Ashes in the Snow (Movie Tie-In)

I saw a film with this title in 2019 on a tour of the Baltic region, with a Lithunian guide. I also met a woman in Lithuania whose family underwent an experience very close to the one in the novel, arrested with her family at home and taken on a very long journal to Siberia. The film continued the story beyond what is described in the book, and the title had more meaning in the film than in the book.I am hardly a young adult; in fact I am long retired. Probably it is being marketed to "young adults," because the narrator is no more than sixteen years old, with an even younger brother. No adult reader should be concerned that s/he might be condescended to. On the contrary, the subject matter, including scenes of great cruelty and callousness on the part of the NKVD guards, demands some maturity and perhaps tough-minded detachment on the part of the reader.Although fiction, the story is totally credible as historical fact, and I am speaking as someone who has taught European history. The Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were invaded both by the Nazis and the Soviets during the Second World War. Both were equally to be feared by the well-drawn characters in this book--which does not include battle scenes. America, which during the war fought Germany along with Russia, was also feared.If you ever read Doctor Zhivago, you will recall an interminable train journey across Russia; there is a similar journey here, but with prisoners crammed in a boxcar this time, with one major stopover for an extensive period on a collective farm. Along the way, some of the prisoners die.The main character, Lina, is a talented artist who uses her skill in different ways. Other characters include a man who winds his watch incessantly, another described as the bald man, and then there is the "repeater," who is always repeating his words. Lina's brother has an important role, as does her mother; they are able to stay together; the father of the family, however, has been separated and there are mixed reports about what has happened to him. Sometimes kindness emerges unexpectedly. And there is a love interest.Th chapters are short and many. I had no desire to put it down and read it in only a couple of days, in spite of outside distractions.

I am overwhelmed after reading this book! I never had been aware of the imprisonment of the thousands of people from the Baltic countries by Stalin! I am still shaken to the core at the atrocities that were committed during those years! I read both this book and Salt to the Sea back to back! The author is to be commended for the research she did for both books! Thank you, Ruta for bringing this to light....a time in history overshadowed by the events Hitler and the concentration camps! What horrors Hitler and Stalin were capable of is still hard to understand and accept! May history never repeat this!

I read this book in two days. It's fantastic, amazing. A very well told, heartwarming story. Sad, yet a page out of history that needs to be remembered and told over and over. And this story, though fiction, does indeed depict real events, feelings, and emotions--the trials and tribulations that way too many went through during the years of World War II and following. You may need a tissue or two as you read this touching story, but it needs to be read. Loved it, a lot.

This was a good movie and I enjoyed it very much!

School requires to read greate quality brand new

Fast easy to read. Short chapters and great stories of each of the subjects. Really great reading

Love this book. The story is amazing and so well written. If you read this book you must read Salt to the Sea by the same author. They go together.

Excellent read. Characters very well developed and we got an insight into Lithuania, not a country usually explored during WWII.

It is not the first time that I have bought a book and then discovered I had not long read it by a different title. I really like her work...so the 3 stars is not for the book, or the delivery. It is so annoying when you look forward to another book by an excellent author and find it is the same!!!!

My teenage daughter read this in a couple of days and has gone on to read several more books by this author.